• #Animals,  #FunFacts

    Wait, what about koalas?!?

    May 7, 2019 /

    How much do you really know about Koala Bears?

    Well, first of all they are not even bears! They are a marsupial which means they have a pouch for their babies, like a kangaroo, sans the jumping ability. When the baby is born they climb in the pouch, chill there for about 6 months, and then come out and cling to momma for about a year.

    Here is the thing about Koalas, they are dumb. Not as in they are hard to train dumb, I mean they will starve in a room full of food dumb. Nope, not exaggerating. So here is a funny/sad story. Koala respiratory  systems are almost identical to human respiratory systems so naturally we wanted to study this more so we had koalas in captivity. They were starving to death. The scientist couldn’t figure out why! They were giving the koalas plenty of eucalyptus leaves but the little guys weren’t eating them. Turns out koalas are so stupid that of the eucalyptus leaf is off the branch the koala does not recognize it as food!

    So why are koalas so freaking stupid? The simplest answer is that it is their diet. First of all, eucalyptus is poisonous! People use eucalyptus mulch because it is a pest deterrent and these little buggers eat it as their only food source. Most of the time they don’t even drink water to wash that sh!t down. 

    Eucalyptus is low in calories and nutrition which means the koala ends up sleeping about 20 hours a day, which I, for one, am envious of. Oddly enough one of the bodily functions that takes up a lot of calories is brain function. To compensate for the lack of calories koalas evolved to have lower brain function. Now they have smooth brains and less then optimal intelligence. Sadly this also means that their ability to evolve has been stunted. 

    My favorite story about koalas is an oldie but a good. In 2014 a koala escaped from the San Diego Zoo. So what was his big day adventure? He promptly climbed a tree and fell asleep, which is where he spent the day. His people stood guard under the tree to make sure he was ok, and then when he woke up they lured him down with some delicious poisonous eucalyptus.

    This post is dedicated to my friend Brian who is the smartest koala I know.

    Thank you to these links for their helpful information!

    https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/k/koala/

    https://www.npr.org/2014/02/27/283307913/koala-escapes-from-zoo-naps-and-then-gets-hungry

    Koalas: Not the smartest tool in the shed

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  • #Animals,  #FunFacts,  #Ocean

    Save the coral reefs!

    May 6, 2019 /

    This is my first post as request by my friend David, and he wasn’t wrong to request it. Coral reefs are so full of life, life that can take decades to mature. The thing about coral reefs is, they are not plants but animals that take an extremely long time to grow. WE NEED THESE REEFS!

    FUN FACTS ABOUT CORAL REEFS!

    1. Coral reefs grow very slowly, at an average rate of just two centimeters per year.
    2. Although many corals may look like plants, they’re actually animals; they are most closely related to jellyfish and anemones.
    3. Strangely, most coral reefs seem to grow on the eastern side of land masses, where the temperature is believed to be warmer than the western side.
    4. If you find a broken piece of coral on the beach, you can see its hard shell, which is actually an animal called a polyp. It is the cluster of these polyps growing together that gives coral reefs their shape.
    5. Coral reefs seem to grow best where there are stronger currents and wave patterns. Scientists believe that this is because stronger currents and waves deliver more food for the marine ecosystem.
    6. Coral reefs are among the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet. There are often more types of fish living in a two-acre area of healthy coral reef than there are species of birds in all of North America!
    7. Coral reefs help to improve the quality of the surrounding water. They do this by filtering out things floating in the ocean, which leads to cleaner water.
    8. The first widespread incident of coral bleaching happened in 1998, when an estimated 16% of corals died. But the worst incident on record occurred in 2015-2016, when an extended El Niño event warmed Pacific waters near the equator.
    9. Recent studies(link sends e-mail) suggest the planet has lost approximately half of its coral reefs in the last 30 years, and could lose more than 90% by the year 2050 if drastic changes are not made.

    For more information about coral reefs and protecting them click the link below!

    Click here

    Thank you to these links specifically for their helpful information. And David. Hi David.

    https://www.barrierreef.org/latest/reefinsider/january-2017/9-fun-facts-about-coral-reefs

    5 Amazing Facts About Coral Reefs

    https://www.zegrahm.com/Fascinating-Facts-About-Cora-Reefs

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